PEDIATRIC FACIAL FRACTURES

Course overview

TRAUMA IS A SIGNIFICANT CAUSE OF MORBIDITY AND DEATH IN CHILDREN. TRAUMA TO THE HEAD IS THE MOST COMMON ANATOMIC SITE, AND WHILE FACIAL FRACTURES ARE INFREQUENT, THEY CAN BE SEVERE AND HAVE LIFE-LONG CONSEQUENCES. YOUNGER PATIENTS HAVE MORE ELASTIC CARTILAGINOUS AND BONY STRUCTURES IN THE FACE AND A LARGER CRANIUM: FACE RATIO; THUS, FRACTURES IN VERY YOUNG CHILDREN ARE RARE. THE GROWTH PATTERNS OF THE FACE DICTATE AGE-SPECIFIC FRACTURE PATTERNS THAT DIFFER FROM ADULTS. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT OF PEDIATRIC FACIAL FRACTURES AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE HEALTHCARE TEAM IN IMPROVING CARE FOR PATIENTS WITH THIS CONDITION.